Thankful for Special Times With Family!

This is not a great picture of me because I can't seem to keep my eyes open when I get my picture taken, but it's a good one of Chris, Kari, and Tom. This past weekend we had a great Thanksgiving with my Mom, Don, and 3 of my siblings (we missed Robyne, Sharon, and Jon). It's always great when we can get together and spend some time eating and chatting. I am sure many of you know that I am the oldest in my family and I have been accused many times for being the second Mom, which for years I took offense too, but I love my Mom and am proud to know that my brothers and sisters considered me as a second one. I don't think they always loved my bossing them around or giving advice, but I hope they all know how much I love them. I would do anything for any one of them. They have grown into responsible adults that I am proud to call my family. When I was growing up I wasn't sure I loved having such a big family, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. I wish we could have all been together, but life takes us different places and that's not always possible. It just makes it that much more of a treat when we all do get together. I am grateful we got to spend time with my Mom and Stepdad. I always love sitting and talking to my Mom. She's one my best friends and I am so blessed she's mine. I also love being with all the neices and nephews. I love being an aunt and love when the kids call me Aunt Angie. I am so glad my brothers and sisters blessed me with the privledge of loving their little ones. There's nothing greater than being with family. I will miss not being with them at Christmas, but I am glad we got to spend Thanksgiving together.

Making Pies

This morning Katy and I made pies for our Thanksgiving feast. Yes I know it should be a day of rest, but today was the only day we were going to get it in. We made two pumpkin, one cherry, one apple, and one peach. I really wanted to just buy them, but Katy really wanted to make them so we did. Yes, we made our own pie crust. I got a great recipe years ago at a Homemaking activity and have used it ever since. Hopefully they will taste yummy at our Thanksgiving feast.

Date with Katy!

So this is not a picture of us on our date, but she wouldn't let me take one of her last night so this is a fairly recent one of us. Last night Katy and I went to the Gateway and did a little shopping and then went to see the Twilight movie. I haven't wanted to say a lot about the Twilight series fearing I would sound like a freak, but I loved the series. Now I am not a reader. If I read it is usually a self help book (because I need help in many areas) but Katy had read the series and begged me to give it a try. My Mom and Katy are good readers. My Mom constantly has a book in hand and Katy Loves to read if it's a book she's interested in. I am so glad she picked up the reading passion. So after Katy's pleading I gave the first book a try and fell in love. I continued to read the other 3 immediately after. I have 2 chapters left in the 4th book and hoping to finish this weekend. I can't believe how much I have enjoyed these books it is so unlike me, but it has been so fun for me and Katy to discuss them as I have read slowly along. So we have anxiously been waiting for the movie to come out and we bought our tickets the other day and went last night. We had a great time and really enjoyed the movie. It was such a fun date for us girls. After the movie we chatted the whole way home about what we liked about the movie and how we had pictured certain characters differently then they looked in the movie. It was a great Mother Daughter time. My sweet little girl is growing up way too fast for me and every minute that we spend togehter is a treasured one!!!

Just a side note while we were on our girl date the boys had a date to watch the Utes and Cougars play. Us girls knew it would be very loud downstairs (another reason for us to leave). Yippee the Utes won! Mike and Eric were very happy.

Our Family's Grateful!

So I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I am excited for Christmas so I had to change my blog to a Christmas theme. I've wanted to do it for days and finally when my sister Robyne gave in and did it so I decided I could too. I am going to put my decorations up this weekend. I went visiting teaching yesterday and the sister we went to visit is so decked out for Christmas. Her house is so darling with all of her Christmas things. Anyways...

Since Thanksgiving is around the corner I wanted to write down some of the things we are thankful for...

Eric says he's thankful for health, his family, and his soccer playing abilities. Katy is grateful for her family, freedom of speech, her friends,and the right to vote. It's interesting how things have changed from the days when Eric was grateful for horses and Santa. Katy was grateful for barbies and her Dad playing barbies with her.
I am thankful for so many things, but especially to be a Wife and Mother. One thing I know for sure is that true happiness does not come from the things we own, but the time we spend with our families. I love being with my family. They make me so happy abd I love them. I am so thankful that Mike has a job that provides for our family. I am grateful for my testimony and the comfort it brings to me. I am so grateful for good health. Last year at this time I had just had surgery and felt rotten so I am so grateful to feel good and to do the things I want to with my family. We are truly blessed and I am so grateful for all that Heavenly Father has blessed us with!

Happy Birthday To My Bestie!

Today is my best friend Colleen's birthday. Colleen and I have been best friends since I was 12 years old. We met at Young Womens, I was so excited and scared to go in with all the girls, but Colleen instantly became my friend. I felt so cool because she's two years older than me and actually wanted to be my friend. We have been best friends ever since. What I love about Colleen is that I can tell her anything and know that she will never judge me. She makes me laugh everytime we're together. She's never too busy to listen. Colleen is one of the most optimistic people I know. She's always looking for the positive side of everything. She's not afraid to be honest with me and let me know when I've made a mistake. When I am with her I want to be a better person. She's a great Mom to 3 cute boys and a devoted wife to her very busy Husband Terry. Every year Colleen and I go to the BYU Womens Conf. together with my sisters and Mom. She's just a part of the family. I love going together because it's always a great time when we're together. I owe Colleen a lot, she's kept many of my secrets,helped me laugh when I wanted to cry and best of all she introduced me to my husband Mike. Colleen is the best and I am so blessed to have such a dear friend!!

One more year in my 30's!

My 39th birthday was on Friday the 14th. Yikes only one more year in my 30's! On Friday Mike, Katy , Eric, and I went to dinner at Cafe Rio and then went to see the movie Forever Young. We went to see that movie because parts of it were filmed out at Grantsville's football field. Katy was there that day so she was sure she was in the movie. We looked hard for our own little movie star, but no luck. We did spot a few of her friends though. It was a really fun night and I really enjoyed the 4 of us being together. Time goes by so fast and I feel like our kids will be out of the house in no time so I love when we can all be together. Then on Saturday Mike took me away for the night (that was my present from him). He surprised me by taking me to the Zermat in Midway. We had been there once before and he know I loved it so he took me there again. We had a great night just the two of us. I am so blessed Mike is my husband! He's always so good to me and I appreciate how thoughtful he is.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!!

Today is my baby brother Tom's birthday. Tom is 7 seven years younger then me. When we were growing up we all called him Tommy. When we were growing up Tom was very adventurous. He was trying to fix things. He loved to go to Bishop Jeppson's house and help him tinker on his car. He loves hunting, fishing anything outdoors. He loves horses and even made his own fake mechanical bull. He always kept us laughing. Once when we were driving to Texas to visit our Grandma we stopped at a Dairy Queen he went in dressed in shorts and cowboy boots and said as loud as he could "they got a john in here?" We already had all eyes on our large family not to mention our out spoken brother. Tom has grown into a wonderful husband and father. He adores his 3 girls and his wife Chantyl. The thing that I love about Tom is that he is always the first one there to help anyone. He is such a hard worker and helps whenever he can. He helped us put our yard in, laid cement, helped us build our basement and I could go on and on with the things he's helped us with. He gave up his whole summer to help Mom and Don build their cabin. Tom is always calling me just to check in. He's a great brother and we are blessed to have him in our family. I love you Tom!!!

It's Great To Be An American!

Well, it's finally here...election day. My purpose for this post is not to voice my political view points, but to say how excited I am that our country has come along way. Years ago we wouldn't have had the opportunity to vote for an African American for president or a woman for vice president. It has been fun to get our kids involved in discussion about our country. I am just so glad that we live in a country that we have so many opportunities. So if you haven't already voted get out and do it today!

I've been tagged!

Seven weird/odd things about me!

1. I love purses. I am always wanting a new one. I just get bored with the same one. I get teased by my kids all the time about having a new one. Although Katy likes the one I have now and wants me to get tired of it so she can haveit, but I still like it so it will be a little while before she gets it.

2. I am terrified of heights. I hate being up high. You will never catch me on a roller coaster...hate them. So when we go to amusement parks I sit and watch while my family does all the roller coasters.

3. I am a basket freak. I like buying baskets and then figuring out what I can put in them around the house. Whenever I go to Michaels or Ross I stop to look at them. I have to stop myself from buying them we don't need any more.

4. I always wear earings. I feel naked without them.

5. I atill worry about what other people think of me. You would think at my age (38) I wouldn't care anymore, but I do. Maybe by the time I am 40 I won't care anymore.

6. I hate to put my head under the water. I love to be in the water I just don't like gettting my eyes in it. I hate this and want to conquer this annoying thing about me.

7. I really like sleeping in a tent. Now I'm not saying I love to camp, but I do like sleeping in a tent. I guess I feel like a kid when I do it. I like putting the tent up in the backyard and sleeping it it. It doesn't happen often though.

Now I tag...Kari, Robyne, and Miriam